A little bit of this and a little bit of that…
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 22.01.24 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 23.01.24 | Sollia | 661m | 661m | Herøy/Sande, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 24.01.24 | Remøykammen | 184m | 41m | Herøy, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 24.01.24 | Vardane (Remøyfjellet) | 188m | 188m | Herøy, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.01.24 | Storhornet | 497m | 497m | Giske, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 25.01.24 | Sloktinden | 442m | 34m | Giske, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 26.01.24 | Igesundhetta | 216m | 216m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 26.01.24 | Hornseten | 190m | 152m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 27.01.24 | Ytrehovdeåsen (Geitenakken) | 170m | 72m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 27.01.24 | Indrehovdeåsen (Høgåsen) | 187m | 66m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 27.01.24 | Høgtua (Åsen) | 162m | 27m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 22.11.22 | Timberåsen | 151m | 21m | Ørsta, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 27.01.24 | Huldrehornet | 271m | 113m | Herøy, M&R, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 28.01.24 | Skarphornet | 696m | 167m | Volda, Norway | WCP | MAP |
Huldrehornet (271m), Jan 22 2024
Monday: The weather was bad. It was raining and the wind was just crazy. Not hurricane-speed but the trees were bending sideways outdoors. Anne looked up Huldrehornet on the forecast and read 20m/s for the summit. As she doesn’t live in a very windy place, she was intrigued. We had to dress up and go and check it out.
There is new Gore-Tex and then there is old, washed out, never washed according to protocol Gore-Tex. I had an old Gore-Tex jacket and a new pair of Gore-Tex pants. Boy, did I notice the difference…
As we rose above the forest and entered the summit ridge, we got the wind head on. This was the maximum level of rain and wind I would expose the dog to. Karma was constantly seeking the side of the ridge, marginally better sheltered.
We were OK though. It was just rain and wind. I’ve been up here where I’ve had serious problems taking a step forward. That’s in the more brutal category. This was not that.
But the stay on top wasn’t pleasant. We had to get off quickly and we chose to descend the south side. After a little while, the wind was no longer a factor and we headed down to Djupvika, and then we sat course for Djupvikhaugen – as I hadn’t been there so far this year.
You can sit inside your house, watch the bad weather and have a good time. But that good time is nowhere near the good time you will have after having done a good hike and taken a good shower. That’s a fact!
Everything was wet. Especially my wallet, which I failed to protect. I had a certain amount of cash in my wallet and all the bills looked like one. After carefully taking them apart, they had to dry up. When dry, they would never pass in one of those machines they’re fed into and so I ironed them. Yes, I ironed them. They looked pretty neat afterwards!
Trip statistics: 5,1km, 340 vertical meters, 1h:33m
Sollia (661m), Jan 23 2024
Tuesday: It seemed like we would have an afternoon free of rain, although the forecast promised rain in the evening. I suggested a ski-trip to Sollia to Anne. She was moderately interested. I had to push all the sweet-talk buttons in the book and eventually, she came around.
I took it for granted that there would be snow for skiing at Leikongeidet (the trailhead) after the massive rain yesterday, but in what shape would be snow be? Soggy, wet or icy?
Icy.
That was not good news for any of us, but I had my hopes that the snow would get better once we reached “Skaret” – famous for introducing better snow than down in the valley.
In the meantime, we had time to figure out how we would survive the descent right here, on regular mountain skis.
Or – just park that concern for later and simply enjoy the fact that we were on a ski-trip!
When we got to “Skaret”, the snow was just as bad as it was further down. The snow had an icy crust that didn’t carry our weight. That is not a problem (other than for the dog) going up. But it would not be enjoyable coming down here.
Above “Skaret”, it got a bit windy. Was this a front coming ahead of schedule? If so, we would definitely turn around. But not until then.
The light was flat and it was turning dark, but we know this mountain quite well and avoided any part where we potentially could hit pure ice and risk sliding off the mountain.
Eventually, we had the top in view. We just hoped the final hillside wasn’t pure ice.
But before we could get to the final hillside, we had to get across the river drain. The snow bridges were out of the question (the pole went straight through) and so we had to stick to the bridge. It wasn’t a problem.
The final hillside wasn’t pure ice, but close enough. I found a line that had elements of scattered snow, which felt a bit safer.
It was pitch dark when we reached the top and it was very nice to have reached the goal and be able to turn around. It was quite windy up here, but at least it wasn’t raining.
The descent went better than we had feared. We were actually able to follow our tracks all the way down, which was a huge bonus. With “tracks”, I don’t really mean tracks per se, but we could see ski marks in the crust. Which was just what we needed, saving us from having to consult with the GPS.
We got back to the trailhead without accidents. I fell 3 times before I found the right technique. I’m just not good at skiing downhill if I don’t have my Randonnée skis. One time I fell so hard that I couldn’t get my pole back up. I actually had to dig it up with my hands.
It was altogether a very interesting ski-trip, and we decided to celebrate when we got back home. We treated ourselves with a mighty fine dinner (made by Anne) and some wine. It was well deserved!
Trip statistics: 9,9km, 560 vertical meters, 2h:37m
Remøykammen (184m), Vardane (188m), Jan 24 2024
Wednesday: I was dead tired and the weather was grey. I needed a moderate hike for walking the dog and chose to hike across Remøyfjellet on Remøy island.
We headed out from Kvianeset and after a short hike, we were on top of Remøykammen.
I just stated that the weather was grey. The below picture of Runde proves it…
There was not a fibre in my body that wanted to be hiking right now, but it sure helped to reach the first top. The main part of the ascent was over.
Eventually we reached the top of Remøyfjellet, aka Vardane, aka Sævikhatten and it was turning dark. But the forecasted rain hadn’t showed up yet, which was a bonus.
The last time we hiked across here (in November 2023), we returned to Kvianeset along the shore. I enjoyed that then and decided to repeat that route now.
We stopped by the marina. A car was driving past us. Slowly. The driver was probably thinking – who is this stranger at the marina at this hour? I enjoyed the thought of making this person nervous, challenging him with the fact that the dog should imply just a guy out walking the dog.
I felt some raindrops. The rain was coming in now. Time to call it a day.
On the way back to Kvianeset, we passed under the bridge and gave some locals a scare.
All in all, a very enjoyable walk!
Trip statistics: 7,2km, 330 vertical meters, 1h:49m
Storhornet (497m), Sloktinden (442m), Jan 24 2024
Thursday: Ålesund day, and up at 4:55am. I don’t function well at this hour of the day, but as I went to bed 9pm last night, I was actually OK. Anne was trailing me, returning home to Sogndal after a week on Sunnmøre.
After work, I decided to drive to Godøya to hike across Storhornet. The weather was just great. We drove to Gjuv and took the regular route up the mountain.
The days were getting longer, and I was able to catch my first sunset in 2024!
Then we headed up the trail I’ve been heading up so many times before…
Making sure we’re not disturbing the trolls…
It was winter in the Sunnmøre alps, but no winter here. It was a bit odd – we hiked here Nov 9 2023, then came lots of snow and then the snow went away. Now it was Jan 25 and it felt like post-winter, but the odd thing is that winter hasn’t arrived yet. That will surely happen in March – the first spring month. Everything’s upside down now…
Eventually, we rose above the forest and had the summit ridge left to do. There was a little snow and a little ice, but nothing problematic. Karma was not in shape today and I don’t know what it was.
On our way up, we met Lyngve – a very seasoned fellow “peakbagger”. We had a good chat before we moved on in separate directions.
And then we were up!
I just love being on Godøya. All the fun I’ve had on this island since 2006…
The views aren’t half bad…
It was dark enough to switch to shutter speed…
Then we moved on to Sloktinden and it was significantly darker now.
The descent from Sloktinden was nice, with the full moon above us. The path was a bit icy, but not difficult to follow.
Eventually, we reached the gravel road that runs at the foot of the mountain on the south side, and had 2,8km back to the car. Again, a beautiful walk on Godøya island…
Trip statistics: 7,9km, 625 vertical meters, 2h:04m
Igesundshetta (216m), Hornseten (189m), Jan 26 2024
Friday: I was heading for Nerlandsøya to hike the high point there, but when I passed the store at Eggesbønes, the pennants were standing at attention (term for a windy day). So, I decided to stay on Bergsøya and hike Igesundshetta and Hornseten instead.
Something is going on with lake Storevatnet. I need to figure out what. I think someone told me that they were decommissioning this lake as a freshwater reservoir.
The weather didn’t feel great. It felt like big rain would move in any second, yet I witnessed a mighty nice sunset…
And then we were on top of Igesundshetta. It didn’t take long to get there.
I enjoyed the views while I was thinking about our onward route.
Would it start raining now, or not at all?
We headed down the northeast ridge, down to Fosnavåg and took the Hornseten route from Nørdrevåg.
It didn’t take long before we were on top of Hornseten.
I spent a little time taking after-dark pictures, but it was just way too windy to get good results.
It was Friday afternoon. I was looking forward to dinner and a couple of beers and so we began our journey back to the car.
Going across Heida, I was pretty sure that my Fosnavåg pictures would turn out to be crap due to the wind, but I got lucky.
After the hike, I drove down to Fosnavåg for some additional pictures.
The moon was full and stunning. Too bad I couldn’t master the camera to the degree to get contours from the moon and a lit landscape at the same time. But a white bulb is better than no bulb at all.
However, with a fast shutter speed, I was able to get the contours on the moon…
Trip statistics: 7,6km, 550 vertical meters, 2h:11m
Ytrehovdeåsen (170m), Indrehovdeåsen (187m), Jan 27 2024
Saturday: The weather was simply awful. It was pouring down and it was windy. I decided to drive to Hovdebygda and do my regular “bad weather loop”.
I left the coastline with very little snow and once I reached the mainland (through the Eiksund tunnel), there was way more snow than I had imagined. But there was no turning around now and I drove to “Svingen” by lake Hovdevatnet – determined to see this hike through.
Our first stop was Ytrehovdeåsen, although the signpost on top says “Høgåsen” and the map says “Geitenakken”. I concluded that this was an awesome place, since it had so many names. All other signposts pointed to “Ytrehovdeåsen”.
Then we moved on to Indrehovdeåsen, but first we had to get down to Hovde and cross the road.
It should not come as a surprise, but the high point on Indrehovdeåsen is also “Høgåsen”. The only difference is the elevation.
It was a bit tedious to hike in the snow, as it was partly rotten, partly icy and seldom firm.
We were wet from top to toe and when we reached Høgetua (aka “Åsen” !) we had the opportunity to descend to lake Hovdevatnet and follow the road back to the car.
But then it wouldn’t be a loop *around* the lake and so we continued across Timberåsen to the Håskjold road. We then followed the Ytrestøylen road to 653 and Ytrehovdevegen back to the car.
I took of my soaking wet Gore-Tex jacket … well it’s only the “Gore” that’s left of this 7-year-old jacket now. I also changed the shirt, but I just pulled down my Gore-Tex pants as I didn’t want to get the seat all wet. I hoped that I would not be stopped in a traffic control in long underwear…
Trip statistics: 9km, 390 vertical meters, 2h:05m
Huldrehornet (271m), Jan 27 2024
Saturday: When we came out of the Eiksund tunnel, it didn’t rain. I was wondering if it just stopped raining and that it hadn’t been raining here at all. That would be a bummer, as we had been hiking in non-stop rain for the past 2 hours.
I didn’t know how many vertical meters the previous hike was, but less than 400 for sure. Maybe less than 300. As this was a Saturday, I decided to add some more vertical meters by going for a quick hike to Huldrehornet.
When I opened the door for Karma, I had assumed she would be sceptical and hesitant. But, to my surprise, she jumped out of the car and onto the trail.
In the steepest hill, she went nuts, ran in circles, played around with branches and looked very happy. She looked like a 2-year old dog.
Above the forest, it was quite windy but without precipitation, it was not a problem. On top, another round of treats was coming up!
NOW, we could call it a day.
Trip statistics: 2,6km, 250 vertical meters, 0h:36m
Skarphornet (696m), Jan 28 2024
This trip is featured on a separate blog post…
